


Carol of the Belles

by rowofstars



Series: 31 Days of Fandomas 2018 [9]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: 31 Days of Fandomas, Christmas, Christmas Fluff, F/M, First Kiss, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-13
Updated: 2018-12-13
Packaged: 2019-09-17 09:15:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 916
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16971837
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rowofstars/pseuds/rowofstars
Summary: Mr. Gold is being driven slowly mad by the caroling outside his house.





	Carol of the Belles

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, I did that with the title. Yes, I'm awful. For the 31 Days of Fandomas prompt #12 - Caroling.

Gold swallowed the last of the scotch and scowled.

He could still hear the music from outside. It had been almost twenty minutes and showed no sign of stopping. At this rate, he could either keep drinking until it didn’t bother him anymore, or he could confront the offensive noise and force it to stop. The former option was not likely to happen before he was so into his cups he couldn’t make it up the stairs to bed. The latter, however, meant opening the front door and facing Belle French.

She was a blessing and a curse.

Whatever had made her knock on his door a week before Christmas and then park her caroling quintet on his lawn was born of the same stubbornness that made her stand up at the town hall meeting two years ago and demand they reopen the library. Except the city budget couldn’t manage it. That didn’t deter her though, not any more than his closed curtains and no trespassing sign. She started a petition, threw a fundraiser, held a bake sale, and even got crowdfunding. And then she worked unpaid for six months, all so Storybrooke could have a library again. 

She was magnificent, and he was not unaffected by her intelligence, her charm, or her sparkling blue eyes. He’d been half of the crowdfunding donations and more besides, and he made sure he was appointed to the committee overseeing the renovations of the library and the eventual reopening. 

Gold sighed, set his glass down on the table beside the chair, and made his way to the door. As soon as he pulled it open, the singing petered off into silence. It wasn’t that the singing was bad, far from it in fact, especially with Ariel Fisher and Mary Margaret Blanchard leading things. Their voices were not unlike what one might expect of a Disney princess, and Sister Astrid more than held her own in the choir. It was just that there was only so many renditions he could take of Silent Night and Away in the Manger before he wanted to tear his own hair out.

His eyes narrowed, moving from one face to the next and fixing the entire group with a harsh glare as he stepped out onto the porch.

“Good evening, Mr. Gold. Nice of you to come out and join us.”

Belle’s bright, perky voice made him soften slightly, and he huffed. “Didn’t seem like I had a choice,” he replied. “This radio station has a very limited playlist.”

“Well,” she said, moving away from the others, “perhaps if we had more donations, we could afford more song selections.”

Gold’s eyebrows lifted and his lips twitched. “Is that so?”

She continued up the steps, slowly. “ _Or_ , we could afford to buy some Christmas presents for less fortunate children.”

He assumed the addition of a sad pout was supposed to pull at his heart strings. “How much will it take for all of you to leave me in peace?” 

Belle licked her lips slowly, and his breathing deepened, his eyes following the movement of her mouth with too much interest. “Are there two digits or three in the price?”

She smiled warmly, her eyes flicking down for a moment and then up to meet his. “Whatever you think a child’s joy on Christmas is worth, Mr. Gold.”

Oh, that did it. Those blue eyes, that smile, and the words that he knew were so very heartfelt had him pulling out his wallet almost immediately. He withdrew some money, more than enough to cover toys and socks and whatever else for several of the kids at the orphanage, and held it out.

Her fingertips closed over the ends of the bills, but she didn’t take them, not right away. “And maybe one more thing, if you really don’t want us to have to show up here every night until Christmas…”

“Yes, please,” he said, rolling his eyes even as her deal making efforts amused him.

“A kiss.”

Gold’s eyes went wide and he stared at her, certain he’d misheard. “Wha-what?”

She smiled wider, flashing her teeth and pulling the money out of his hand. “You heard me,” she said, tucking the cash in an envelope in her pocket with the rest of the donations they’d collected. “And then you can invite me in for a drink.”

He blinked. “Oh?”

She nodded. “To warm up, of course.”

“Of course,” he breathed, still gazing intently at her face, seeking some sign that he wasn’t dreaming or crazy or worse. 

Glancing over her shoulder he saw that her compatriots had already moved on, to the opposite corner of the street, belting out O Come All Ye Faithful. When he looked at her again, she wasn’t smiling. Her face had turned more serious and she was much closer than she had been a minute ago.

His tongue pushed at his bottom lip and he noticed her eyes shifting for that brief second. Then she pushed up on her toes and pressed her mouth to his in a soft, yet certain kiss. There was a whoop from across the street, Leroy he presumed, and he felt Belle smile against his lips.

She dropped back on her heels, her hands pressed to his chest and his at her waist, as puffs of breath floated up between them.

Gold’s mouth curved into a crooked grin as he stepped back and held open the door. “Would you like to come in for a drink?”


End file.
